Ice Airport Alaska

The worlds only hub airport to operate in temperatures as low as -38 Celsius, and contend with winds over 100mph. With nearly 1000 flights per day, how does the airport stay open?

The Sunday after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year at airports across America, but Ted Stevens International in Anchorage (ACN) presents several added challenges. It's remote, the weather is extreme, and so is the local wildlife. Follow the airport's hardworking staff--in the terminal and on the tarmac--as they spend the day taking on snowstorms, lightning strikes, and even birds of prey, all while welcoming through 187 cargo planes, 241 commercial jets, and thousands of passengers (including one North Pole celebrity).

It's the only hub airport on the planet to operate in temperatures as low as -38 Celsius and winds over 100mph. Katie chases a moose on a runway, and weather threatens Nick's flight into the interior.

Ted Stevens Airport (ANC) is about to make history in a way no one could have anticipated. They are awaiting the first flight of American evacuees arriving from the coronavirus-plagued city of Wuhan, China. The North Terminal has been locked. Somehow, they must screen 201 potentially infected passengers while keeping operations running normally. Add on a damaging three-day snowstorm and a daring, first-ever attempt to airlift a small plane by helicopter, and it makes for a blizzard of challenges for the men and woman of the "Ice Airport."

Every year, up to six million tons of snow fall at Ted Stevens International Airport (ANC) in winter, and this season, there are no signs of the bad weather letting up. The airfield clearing team has been working 24/7 to keep the runways open during a storm that would shut down other airports in minutes. Witness the precisely choreographed dance of multi-million-dollar machinery used to plow potentially lethal ice and snow and to clear the 6,000 lights and high tech instrument landing systems so pilots can safely land their planes.

Winter is nearly over in Alaska, but at Ted Stevens International Airport (ANC), spring seems a long way off. Snow is falling at an inch an hour and even with $40 million dollars' worth of equipment, the airfield maintenance crew is struggling to stay on top of the blizzard and keep the runways operational. The airport is also experiencing white-out conditions, which play a role in a de-icing truck flipping over. It's an accident that could release a 2,000-gallon cocktail of hazardous chemicals and diesel fuel unless it is quickly contained.